While many Michigan taxpayers
may be laughing or angry at the revelation by Fox News' John Stossel that he
obtained a "free" golf cart using special tax breaks and giveaways for electric
cars [video], very few may realize that Michigan's lawmakers have been altering
this state's business tax code to provide special credits and giveaways for the
industry that creates these cars. Most recently, on Dec. 31, 2009, Gov.
Jennifer Granholm signed into law House Bill 5469, which expands a taxpayer
subsidy for makers of electric car batteries. Two weeks earlier, overwhelming
majorities in the House and Senate voted to approve the bill — only nine
lawmakers out of 148 voted "no."

After consulting with an Arizona retailer that literally advertised a
"FREE ELECTRIC CAR," and then legally exploiting the generous subsidies
contained in the U.S. tax code, Stossel whittled the $6,490 sticker price down
to zero and then paraded his taxpayer-financed toy on Fox's Bill O'Reilly show.
Explaining the gambit, he noted that a large portion of his funding came from a
tax credit of "$417 for each kilowatt hour of traction battery capacity in
excess of four kilowatt hours."

House Bill 5469 — now Public Act 240 of 2009 — expands upon Public Act 580 of 2008, a
law that allows qualified manufacturers to claim credits of $375 for each
battery pack of at least 4 kilowatt hours capacity that they produce, and
$93.75 for each additional kilowatt hour, up to a maximum of $1,500 per
battery. The 2008 law allowed for four battery makers to claim these special
tax breaks when filing their Michigan Business Tax; House Bill 5469 adds three
new recipients sharing a slightly larger subsidy between themselves.

Stossel told O'Reilly that his golf cart subsidy happened because "our
bloated government subsidizes everybody" and that it is part of "endless
subsidies that are taking us on a road to serfdom." He also noted that the
federal subsidy used to purchase his golf cart was the work of U.S. Rep.
Charles Rangel, D-New York.

The Michigan lawmakers who supported HB 5469 have a different view of
special tax breaks for electric cars and electric car batteries.

State Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, hailed the passage of the bill as
"tremendous news for the Great Lakes Bay Region" because he believes that it
will bring battery-making jobs to an area within or nearby his district. Kahn's
news release was issued jointly with state Sen. Tony Stamas, R-Midland.

The bill passed the House on a vote of 96-6, with 38 Republicans joining
58 Democrats in support of the special tax break. It passed the Senate on a
vote of 32-3, with the support of 18 Republicans and 14 Democrats.

The Michiganvotes.org roll
call vote for House Bill 5469 is above. The original version of this
story and a video of Stossel talking about his golf cart is at
www.MichCapCon.com/12127.

SKU: MCC2010-02

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